Exercising for emergencies: Federal Office for Radiation Protection and Federal Police measure radioactivity from the air

In the week from 11 April 2011, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) and the Federal Police (BPOL) train the measurement of environmental radioactivity from helicopters in a joint exercise taking place in Baden-Wurttemberg. The exercise is to ensure emergency preparedness. If necessary, such measurements are to determine the current level of radioactivity in the environment swiftly and large-scale. This may be necessary e.g. in case of radioactive substances being released as a result of an accident in a nuclear power plant in order to swiftly determine contamination and localise areas that are at high radiological risk.

The exercises take place on an annual basis. The current exercise areas were already selected in autumn 2010 on request of the Baden-Wurttemberg Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Traffic. The exercise is not immediately linked to the accident in Japan. After the exercise, the collected data will be made available to the Baden-Wurttemberg authorities.

In the course of the exercise, the affected premises will be overflown; the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology on 11 April, the vicinity of the Philippsburg and Neckarwestheim nuclear power plants on 12 April, and the vicinity of the Obrigheim nuclear power plant on 13 April. The flights will take place between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. For measurement reasons, the flight altitude will generally be about 100 m.

The measurement of radioactivity from the air, the so-called aerogammaspectrometry, makes it possible to quickly measure an area for possible radioactive contamination or to find radioactive sources. It is possible to examine an area of about 70 km² within about three hours. This supports quick decisions about possibly required protection measures or the necessity of more detailed examinations on the ground.

For the measuring flights in Baden-Wurttemberg, two helicopters of the Federal Police will be equipped with special devices for the detection of gamma radiation. Apart from the measured data, the geographical co-ordinates will be recorded, too, so that the spatial distribution of identified radioactive substances can be presented as a chart after completion of each measuring flight.

The measurement exercises carried out on an annual basis serve to optimise the measuring and evaluating procedures and to check their operational readiness. Besides, the co-operation between the task forces of the Federal Police and the scientific-technical staff of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection is trained and improved.

Pursuant to the Precautionary Radiation Protection Act (StrlVG), the Federal Office for Radiation Protection is responsible for the quick and large-area measurement of radioactivity of the ground surface from the air. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the Chernobyl reactor accident, in order to keep the radiation exposure of the population as low as possible in case of events involving considerable radiological consequences. For the implementation of this task, the Federal Office therefore has altogether four measuring systems available at its sites in Munich and Berlin. Within one hour, these systems can be installed in helicopters of the Federal Police and can then be taken to an area to be examined.